All aboard: 35 photos of SkyTrain's Evergreen Extension

Crowds braved the heavy rain throughout the day for the official opening of the Evergreen Extension of SkyTrain’s Millennium Line.

The first trains operating in revenue service rolled into the extension, 11 kms of track with six new stations, beginning at noon today. Local municipal officials and representatives from both the federal and provincial governments attended the ribbon cutting held shortly before the launch.

“The completion of the greatly anticipated Evergreen extension has been made possible by the efforts of so many people, and seeing the trains go into service today is good news for the province of B.C.,” said Premier Christy Clark in a statement.

“By adding Evergreen to Metro Vancouver’s SkyTrain system, we’re able to provide transit riders with more travel options and get people to their destination faster. This demonstrates our government’s commitment to making the daily commute and quality of life better for British Columbians.”

Passengers will be able to ride from Lougheed Town Centre Station, the starting point of the extension, to Lafarge Lake-Douglas Station, the new terminus station fo the Millennium Line, in just 16 minutes. For those traveling to or from Vancouver, a seamless one-train ride will take passengers from VCC-Clark Station to Lafarge Lake-Douglas Station in 36 minutes.

“This really opens up so many opportunities for us since we’ve relied on buses for so long,” Alex Yu, a Port Moody resident and student at Simon Fraser University, told Daily Hive. “I use transit pretty much everyday to get to school and work, but the buses we’ve had have been slow and reliable. Now that we can get to Vancouver so quickly on a train, we can open up our employment, recreation and entertaiment possibilities.”

Construction on the Evergreen extension began in 2012, and it was completed earlier this fall under its budget of $1.43 billion. Attentionw will now turn to funding and building the Broadway extension of the Millennium Line and Surrey’s light rail transit work, which is subject to a TransLink business case review.

The extension is expected to attract 50,000 riders per day by the end of its first year and 70,000 riders per day by 2021.

Lafarge Lake-Douglas Station

View of the length of the station platform, with both platforms designated for the inbound direction given that this is the new terminus station for the Millennium Line. All stations incorporate wood features into their designs.

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The station platform as a train departs.

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Public art work over a staircase.

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Staircase between the platform level and the concourse level.

Photo credit: Kenneth Chan / Daily Hive

A track switch just beyond the station.

Photo credit: Kenneth Chan / Daily Hive

Lincoln Station

New wayfinding signage includes a line map highlighting a passenger’s current location and the direction of the platform.

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View of the station platform for the inbound direction.

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Fare gate entrance for Lincoln Station.

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All six new stations for the Evergreen extension and the new third platform at Lougheed Station are motion-activated to reduce energy.

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Access to all levels of the stations of the Evergreen extension are built with both up and down escalators.

Photo credit: Kenneth Chan / Daily Hive

Coquitlam Central Station

Exterior facade of Coquitlam Central Station, which is also an interchange hub to the West Coast Express commuter rail service.

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Fare gate entrance of the station.

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Station entrance concourse areas also outfitted with electronic screens that display train arrival times and platform destination information.

Photo credit: Kenneth Chan / Daily Hive

The escalators and staircase for the inbound platform.

Photo credit: Kenneth Chan / Daily Hive

Each platform area on the Evergreen extension is outfitted with an improved version of the Canada Line’s electronic destination signs that provide the current time as well as the destination and arrival times of the next trains.

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A track switch just before Coquitlam Central Station.

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Inlet Centre Station

Inlet Centre Station is the Evergreen extension’s only subway-like station as it is built in a trench, right under the road overpass for Saint Johns Street.

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Looking west on the inbound platform for Inlet Centre Station.

Photo credit: Kenneth Chan / Daily Hive

Photo credit: Kenneth Chan / Daily Hive

The escalators and staircase to the ticketing concourse of the station’s main entrance.

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There are two entrances into Inlet Centre Station; one entrance is located on the east side of Saint Johns Street while the secondary entrance is located on the south side. This reduces the need for passengers to cross the busy arterial road to enter the station.

Photo credit: Kenneth Chan / Daily Hive

Moody Centre Station

The inbound and outbound platforms for Moody Centre Station, which is another interchange station for the West Coast Express commuter rail service.

Photo credit: Kenneth Chan / Daily Hive

Looking west, a view of the outbound direction of Lafarge Lake-Douglas Station.

Photo credit: Kenneth Chan / Daily Hive

Looking east, a view of the inbound direction platform.

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The mezzaine level of Moody Centre Station.

Photo credit: Kenneth Chan / Daily Hive

The entrance and exit for the West Coast Express commuter rail station is open just before and during the service’s operating hours.

Photo credit: Kenneth Chan / Daily Hive

View of the outbound direction tracks from the mezzaine level.

Photo credit: Kenneth Chan / Daily Hive

Public art, a First Nation-stylized canoe, suspended above the main escalator and staircase into the station.

Photo credit: Kenneth Chan / Daily Hive

View of the platform level from the mezzaine level.

Photo credit: Kenneth Chan / Daily Hive

The West Coast Express commuter rail platform is located immediately adjacent to the new SkyTrain station structure.

Photo credit: Kenneth Chan / Daily Hive

Burquitlam Station

View of the inbound direction platform.

Photo credit: Kenneth Chan / Daily Hive

Artwork suspended in the atrium over the escalator and staircase for the inbound direction platform.

Photo credit: Kenneth Chan / Daily Hive

Photo credit: Kenneth Chan / Daily Hive

Lougheed Town Centre Station

Looking west on the newly-built third platform at Lougheed Town Centre Station.

Image: Kenneth Chan / Daily Hive

The escalators and staircase to the new third platform from the concourse level of the station.

Image: Kenneth Chan / Daily Hive

In the distance, the track switch and start of the new section of track built for the Evergreen extension.

Image: Kenneth Chan / Daily Hive

Kenneth Chan

National Features Editor at Daily Hive, the evolution of Vancity Buzz. He covers local architecture, urban issues, politics, business, retail, economic development, transportation and infrastructure, and the travel industry. Kenneth is also a Co-Founder of New Year's Eve Vancouver. Connect with him at kenneth[at]dailyhive.com